The not-for-profit Canadian Drug Insurance Pooling Corporation’s drug framework provided coverage to almost 28,000 Canadians and their families where drug costs went over $10,000 a year, based on its 2020 results.
While only 11 new biologic drugs were approved by Health Canada in 2019, CDIPC's member insurance companies reimbursed claims associated with 54 new high-cost drugs, including those for rare diseases.
Based on past experience, CDIPC estimates that about 174,000 Canadians face a high-cost drug burden, an increase of 34 per cent since 2016.
CDIPC helps sustain drug plans
"The COVID-19 pandemic had virtually no impact on CDIPC's high-cost drug experience in 2019," said Dan Berty, CDIPC's Executive Director. "During a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has created so many business challenges for small- and mid-size employers and families, CDIPC's framework has helped sustain the drug plans of 14,464 similarly sized employers across Canada."
The PMPRB is an independent quasi-judicial body established by Parliament in 1987 under the Patent Act (Act) and ensures the prices of patented medicines sold in Canada are not excessive.
